FIFA Unites World Cup Winners and Club Executives as Teammates to Study for Soccer Diploma

06 January 2020, Egypt, Giza: The shadows of spectators can be seen on a FIFA banner. (dpa)
06 January 2020, Egypt, Giza: The shadows of spectators can be seen on a FIFA banner. (dpa)
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FIFA Unites World Cup Winners and Club Executives as Teammates to Study for Soccer Diploma

06 January 2020, Egypt, Giza: The shadows of spectators can be seen on a FIFA banner. (dpa)
06 January 2020, Egypt, Giza: The shadows of spectators can be seen on a FIFA banner. (dpa)

World Cup and Champions League winners are learning about the soccer industry at FIFA alongside club founders and front-office leaders.

All were teammates in the classroom this week at the soccer body’s headquarters in Zurich to study all fields of the industry for the FIFA Diploma in Club Management.

Graduates this week included Juan Mata and Angel City founder Julie Uhrman, while Cesc Fàbregas, Esteban Cambiasso and Radamel Falcao are among the latest intake for the 18-month course.

Now in its third edition, the FIFA course aims to give former stars a pathway to careers off the field and better educate soccer industry executives about the players’ perspective.

“When we learn something it is a great feeling. These courses give us a chance to do that,” said Mata, who won a World Cup title with Spain and a Champions League with Chelsea.

As a co-founder in 2017 of the socially progressive Common Goal charity, Mata’s smarts already were established and he was expected to have an impactful post-playing career.

However, former Argentina and Inter Milan midfielder Cambiasso cautioned in one session that some industry executives “think that if a football player develops his brain, that is a danger.”

Fàbregas is studying on the course while coaching in Italy at Como, newly promoted to Serie A after a 20-year absence, where he is also a minority investor.

He was hired at Como by Dennis Wise, who played for Chelsea and England, was an executive at Newcastle and is part of the FIFA selection board for the course and helps teach it.

“There are many of us that are capable of doing it and we have shown we are capable,” Wise said. “You are never too old to continue to learn.”

FIFA started its diploma course in 2021 following the UEFA masters course taught since 2015 by the European soccer body with input from universities in England and France.

This generation of newly-retired international players typically acquired enough wealth to have serious investment options and no need to work again. Mata has a stake in Formula One team Alpine.

“We do have exceptional lifestyles,” acknowledged Tim Cahill, an advisor to Qatar’s soccer federation and board member at Qatar-owned Belgian second-tier club Eupen.

Wise suggested the motivation for FIFA students to be educated was “not about money. It is about success and achieving certain things.”

FIFA’s course focuses on club operations rather than national federation issues and a keynote lecturer is Arsene Wenger, its head of global development after 22 years as Arsenal coach.

“You could have heard a pin drop in the room when he spoke,” said Karina LeBlanc, the storied former Canada goalkeeper and now general manager at Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Portland and Angel City were created in recent years and are now trying to learn and share from clubs that have more than 100 years of history, said Uhrman, the Angel City president who was an entrepreneur in the gaming and entertainment industries before founding the soccer club in Los Angeles.

“It can only bring you closer together,” she said, “because we are sitting at the table together.”



Bellingham's Late Goal Gives 10-man Real Madrid Comeback Win at Valencia

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
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Bellingham's Late Goal Gives 10-man Real Madrid Comeback Win at Valencia

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano

Jude Bellingham missed a penalty but scored a late winner and Vinicius Jr. was sent off as 10-man Real Madrid fought back in the most dramatic of fashions to beat Valencia 2-1 and return to the top of La Liga on Friday, The Associated Press reported.
Luka Modrić’s 85th minute equalizer and Bellingham’s stoppage time winner ensured that Madrid avoided back-to-back defeats in La Liga for the first time since 2019.
The win took it to 43 points, two above city rival Atletico, albeit having played a game more.
The match at the Mestalla pitted second from bottom against second from top and it was the struggling home side which took the lead after 27 minutes. Hugo Duro stabbed the ball into the empty net after it came back off the post.
Madrid came into the game more in the second half but it looked like it would be a frustrating night for the capital club.
Kylian Mbappé won a penalty after 55 minutes but Bellingham’s shot hit the post and moments later the Frenchman himself saw a goal disallowed after a video review.
Things got worse for Real with 11 minutes remaining when Vinicius pushed goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski and the referee, after a long video review, showed the Brazilian a red card.
However, Real is never out of it and Carlo Ancelotti’s late changes turned the game around.
Modrić came on in the 80th and it took the 39-year-old Croatian just five minutes to make his mark, dancing through a sea of defenders and poking home the equalizer.
Even with a man less there was a sense of inevitability as Real pushed for a winner, and five minutes into added time Bellingham made up for his earlier miss.
Valencia defender Hugo Guillamón seemed to slip and lay the ball into the path of the advancing Englishman, who made no mistake with only the keeper to beat.
Even then the drama was not over. Valencia deserved to take something from the match and Luis Roja almost got an equalizer with the last kick of the game. He watched in agony as his long-range shot came back off the post.
Valencia stayed second from bottom.
Earlier, fourth-tier club Pontevedra dispatched high-flying La Liga side Mallorca 3-0 to move into the last 16 of the Copa de Rey.
Dalisson de Almeida scored from almost 40 yards to make it 1-0 after 21 minutes, Yelko Pino doubled the lead with a cracking volley four minutes into the second half, and then Rufo rounded off the perfect night with 18 minutes left after a shocking defensive lapse.
The Galician side knocked out Villarreal in the last round.
In the night’s other games, top-tier clubs Rayo Vallecano and Getafe progressed.
Getafe needed extra time to beat second-division Granada in southern Spain. After a goalless match, Borja Mayoral got the only goal in the 93rd minute to put the visitor through.
Rayo Vallecano made swift work of second-tier Racing Ferrol. Alfonso Espino and Jorge de Frutos put the visitors 2-0 up before halftime and Frutos grabbed a third on the hour mark.
Álvaro Giménez scored a late consolation for the home side.